Abstract
Structural equation modeling was used to test [Sandler, American Journal of Community Psychology 29: 19–61.] a theoretical model of risk and resilience in an urban sample of African American and European American adolescents. The aims of the present study were to examine whether self-system processes (i.e., competence, self-esteem, and coping efficacy) mediated the relations between ecological risk and depressive symptoms and to determine if pathways varied across ethnic/racial groups. Results implicate self-esteem as a putative mediator of the impact of ecological risk on depressive symptoms for both African American and European American youth. In addition, coping efficacy was a mediator of the link between ecological risk and depressive symptoms for African American youth, but not for European American youth. The evidence supporting competence as a significant mediator of the relation between ecological risk and depressive symptoms was less compelling. Findings suggest substantial similarities in the pathways between ecological risk and depressive symptoms across African American and European American youth.
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Notes
These reliability coefficients are estimates of true composite reliability. They are not Cronbach's alpha coefficients. These estimates are unbiased if the items are congeneric (i.e., they represent the same unidimensional construct) and the measurement model is properly specified (Raykov, 2001b). Cronbach's coefficients are unbiased only under the relatively stringent assumption of essential tau-equivalence of the items and uncorrelated uniqueness factors (Green, 2003; Raykov, 2001a).
We made an exception to this approach with respect to the ecological risk variable. This composite was represented as an observed variable rather than as a latent construct. The rationale is that it is difficult to conceptualize a latent factor for stressful life events. Rather than being effect indicators of a latent construct, these life events are conceptualized as cause indicators of a stressful life events composite. As noted by Bollen (1989, pp. 222–223), “traditional and the new definitions of reliability do not work well for indicators that cause latent variables.”
Observed and FIML estimated sample moment matrices are provided upon request.
The higher than desired SRMR value (an upper limit of 0.08 is preferred, Hu and Bentler, 1999) seems due to an aggregate of misspecification at the measurement model level as the structural model is completely saturated aside from the across-group equality constraints, which were supported by the data. Examination of modification indices and residual matrices did not reveal any systematic source of misfit. It should also be noted that this chi-square statistic is not adjusted for data nonnormality. Mplus statistical software did not provide a bootstrapped chi-square statistic at the time of these analyses.
We attempted to test for pathway invariance across gender (within each ethnic group) and also attempted to test for equality of covariances amongst latent variables, but these models resulted in inadmissible solutions (viz., a negative variance estimate), an outcome that is more common with smaller sample sizes.
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Department of Psychology at the University at Albany, State University of New York. She received her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of North Texas. Her interests are ecocultural models of risk and resiliency in minority youth and measurement equivalence of risk and resiliency constructs.
Arizona State University. He received his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University at Albany, State University of New York. His major research interests are ecocultural models of risk and resiliency in children, preventive intervention development for diverse children, and quantitative methodology and applications in developmental and cross-cultural psychology
Clinical Psychology program at the University at Albany, State University of New York. Her major research interests are risk and resiliency processes in minority youth
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Prelow, H.M., Weaver, S.R. & Swenson, R.R. Competence, Self-esteem, and Coping Efficacy as Mediators of Ecological Risk and Depressive Symptoms in Urban African American and European American Youth. J Youth Adolescence 35, 506–516 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-006-9068-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-006-9068-z